FERRELL, STILLER, VAUGHN & WILSON: AN OVERSATURATION

I am not conservative. But in my opinion, the marketplace for frat boy humor in the movies has become oversaturated. Yes, Old School is funny, as are Anchorman and Dodgeball. But Wedding Crashers is too long and much less entertaining, and the few laugh-out-loud moments were all on the trailer.

By the way, is there an unwritten rule that Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Owen and/or Luke Wilson must all cameo in each other’s films?

Will Vaughn’s supposed relationship with Jennifer Aniston affect his box office success? We’ll see when the aptly named The Breakup comes out later this year. To me, Vaughn is a better actor when he is given the opportunity to shine in scenery-stealing moments without his boy posse (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Be Cool). He is a pretty decent dramatic actor as well; early in his career, he had some quality performances in movies like Clay Pigeons and Return to Paradise. That being said, I found Vaughn to be distracting and seemingly out of place in last year’s Thumbsucker. Is he trying to reestablish the ‘indie cred’ that put him on the map when he starred in 1996’s Swingers?

Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers may have paid his bills for life, but when it comes to Ben Stiller, I recommend Keeping the Faith, an undervalued comedy co-starring and directed by an unusually funny Edward Norton. Stiller made six movies in 2004, one too many for the viewing public to ingest – Envy was the only film among the six that did not connect with audiences that year, resulting in one of Stiller’s few big screen financial failures (Duplex bombed badly in 2003).

I’m not sure what the appeal is with Owen Wilson. He alternates action movies with comedies and independent films, and has the most diversified canon of work among his frat boy counterparts. But that’s about all I can say for the guy. His brother Luke, on the other hand, has achieved more mainstream success with the Legally Blonde and Charlie’s Angels franchises, and he was great in both Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums.

And then there is Will Ferrell, probably the most popular kid in this clubhouse. He has tried his hand at a thinly veiled Woody Allen impersonation (Melinda and Melinda) and a man-child from the North Pole (Elf), but Ferrell may forever be known as Frank the Tank from Old School. He will probably stay golden with two of his next efforts: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, a NASCAR comedy helmed by Anchorman director Adam McKay, and Blades of Glory, an Olympic ice skating satire co-starring Will Arnett (Arrested